Produced by the Audit Committee Guidance Committee (ACGC), the Guidebook for Audit Committees in Singapore is a key initiative of Singapore's ongoing efforts to strengthen the corporate governance practices of listed companies. Audit committees play a central role in the governance and oversight of companies. With the growing complexities of the business environment, audit committees face even greater demands. This Guidebook thus provides timely assistance to audit committee members.
The key objective of the Guidebook is to share the experiences, knowledge and practices of audit committee members for other audit committee members to adapt to suit their specific circumstances. It is not intended to be a new rulebook or to prescribe additional standards. Ultimately, audit committee members must exercise independence and observe the spirit of the relevant rules and regulations.
The first edition of the Guidebook was developed by the Audit Committee Guidance Committee and published in October 2008. It has been a good source of guidance for Audit Committee members over the past six years. Naturally, since its issuance, there have been changes in corporate legislation and regulations as well as to both the local and overseas corporate governance landscapes. In particular, the Code of Corporate Governance issued on 2 May 2012 contains revisions to the principles in relation to Accountability and Audit. There was hence a need to review the Guidebook to ensure its continued relevance.
Since June 2013, a Work Group (WG) comprising industry practitioners has worked tirelessly to produce an updated and effective guide for Audit Committee members. Besides covering the relevant changes to the revised Code of Corporate Governance and refreshing the case studies, the WG also introduced guidance on new areas of concern to Audit Committees that were not covered previously.
Please click here (PDF, 2.85MB) to download the second edition of the Guidebook.